bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

agriculture | farmers | food

India should review FTAs to boost farm exports: CACP chief
6-Feb-2013
India should review Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that it has entered into with ASEAN, Japan and Korea to boost farm exports, according to a discussion paper co-authored by CACP chief Ashok Gulati.
Out of the frying pan...into trade liberalisation: SAFTA a disaster for Pakistan’s agriculture sector
28-Jan-2013 Express Tribune
The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) appears to be a ‘disaster’ for Pakistan’s agricultural sector and is backed only by the industrial lobby.
MFN status to Pakistan remains fruitless for agri sector: USAID
16-Jan-2013
The Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan could not prove instrumental in increasing agriculture exports to India, observed a report sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Mexico finds unlikely allies in trade fight
27-Dec-2012 NY Times
As tomato growers in Florida and some other states fight a 16-year-old agreement that they contend allows farmers in Mexico to export tomatoes at a price below their costs, the Mexican farmers are finding allies in the United States.
SRA wants sugar quota allocation from Japan
23-Dec-2012
The government is asking Japan that Filipino sugar exporters be given a regular quota of 150,000-200,000 metric tons per year under the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).
Ag coalition says US-EU FTA must include agriculture
16-Nov-2012 NPPC
A coalition of US food and agricultural organizations led by the National Pork Producers Council reiterated that any US-EU FTA deal must include agriculture and that the EU must address non-tariff trade barriers.
Cargill says Mexico owes it $95 million in NAFTA dispute
15-Nov-2012 Reuters
US agribusiness company Cargill Inc. filed a suit in a US court on Tuesday to compel Mexico to pay a $94.6 million award over trade barriers the company says Mexico put up against high-fructose corn syrup from 2002 to 2007.
Carefully weigh pros and cons of free trade area
15-Nov-2012
Discussion of the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be a highlight of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Thailand next week. But the government will have to seriously consider the pros and cons of the TPP, to ensure the regional trade agreement will improve Thailand’s competitiveness and boost our capacity to enter the regional market.
Understanding free trade through the KORUS FTA & the necessity of regional economic cooperation
6-Nov-2012 La Via Campesina
This booklet is based on the discussions between activists and academics during strategy meetings in Seoul and in Japan about economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. It focuses on the KORUS FTA which is a model of TPPA but also deals with the alternative model.
Food crisis: The fight for corn
29-Oct-2012 CIP Americas Program
In an era of food crisis, the fight for corn has intensified, and the importance of this grain—a staple in the Mexican diet and a large part of the world—has been revealed to the fullest extent.
Treaty tolls death knell for Mexican countryside
23-Oct-2012 IPS
The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations, which Mexico is to join in December, are threatening to eliminate the last defences of the country’s agricultural sector.
Do the Canada-EU CETA negotiations have a new sugar problem?
10-Oct-2012 iPolitics
Long the bête noire of Canadian trade policy, the supply managed dairy and poultry industries might have some new company.
Gillard cites food security in push for Japanese trade agreement
9-Oct-2012 SMH
Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has used rising concern in Japan about food security to renew the push to finalise a Free Trade Agreement.
OAE: Thailand still has upper hand in FTAs on farm products
22-Aug-2012
The Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) has disclosed that Thailand this year still has an edge over its dialogue partners in the free trade agreements (FTAs) on agricultural products.
Chile and Thailand sign agriculture agreements in Bangkok
17-Aug-2012
Chilean Minister of Agriculture Luis Mayol signed two agreements in Bangkok Wednesday with his Thai counterpart, Theera Wongsamut. The agreements will set a common protocol for agricultural exchange and sanitary practices.
Japan’s free-trade nemesis built on part-time farmers empire
3-Aug-2012 Bloomberg
Japan’s government wants it. Mitsubishi Corp. backs it. Toyota Motor Corp. says they need it to compete. Yet, whether Japan joins the biggest attempt at a global free-trade pact may hinge on part-time rice farmers like Tadashi Hirose. And he doesn’t much like it.
FTAs push S. Korean farmers into ’sink or swim’ crises
11-Jul-2012 Asahi Shimbun
Korean pig farmers are increasingly finding themselves in a pickle after the European Union began exporting pork bellies, a fixture in the Korean diet, for less than one-third of the local price under the FTA that took effect in July last year.
S. Korean farmers rally against China trade talks
3-Jul-2012 AFP
Thousands of South Korean farmers and fisherman protest against FTA talks with China
Playing chicken with supply management
26-Jun-2012 Guelph Mercury
The Dairy Farmers of Canada believe Harper’s promise and fully expect Canada to emerge from the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks with the protected market and paid-for quota systems intact. To an outsider, it’s difficult to see how this could happen.
Chinese premier says Asian giant is interested in free-trade deal with Mercosur trade bloc
26-Jun-2012 AP
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the Asian giant is interested in a possible free-trade deal with the Mercosur regional trade bloc.